Purple Striped Jellyfish at La Jolla

(All photos for this entry are posted here)

Anna and I finally made it out to La Jolla Shores and Cove this weekend for some snorkeling. Water clarity wasn’t great, but it sure beats red tide. We went mostly to look for the leopard sharks that frequent the waters this time of year. We could see the dark shapes moving around in shallow water, munching on sardines, but couldn’t get close enough to get a good look. There was a lot of surge, so the water was clouded with sand and biological bits. Out further in the water we saw some guitarfish and rays, but most of the time they were are too spooked to let you get a good look. The downfall of snorkeling, limited time to sneak up on stuff.

About the only thing coming out to play in the water with us were the purple striped jellyfish. Our winter rains and runoff made the water quite nutrient rich. This lead to a surge of red tide growth, which lead to a surge in other critters that feed on red tide, which leads to a surge in growth on things that feed on those critters – jellyfish. We saw four at the cove, and a few at the shores. They were easy enough to avoid, but you had to pay attention. Phil got stung (haw-haw) and had to go hit the lifeguards up for some vinegar. A note to anyone out there, if you can’t get to vinegar, use sand to rub the skin where you got stung. It will clean the little stinging cells (cnidocytes) off your skin. Don’t pee or use alcohol, they will just sting you more.

The purple striped jellyfish we saw ranged in size from about a foot to three feet wide. Most were looking a little ragged (torn cups, short tentacles), I suspect from an encounter or two with swimmers. But it is also possible that they are getting to the end of their lifecycle, I’m not sure how long they live for. They were pretty neat to watch swimming around. Most of the time they hung out on the surface, but I did see them dive to about 10 feet on a couple occasions. I didn’t see any of the fried egg or rare black jellyfish, I will have to keep my eye out for them, and the fleeting leopard sharks…